The present invention relates to a wire stripping device and has particular application as a portable hand-held device for use in stripping insulation from small diameter wire.
Wire stripping devices for use in the stripping of insulation from electrical wire are well known in the art, and over a period of time have taken various shapes and forms in the construction thereof. In the stripping of insulation from small diameter wire, many of the wire strippers known heretofore have not been altogether satisfactory because the cutting elements of these prior known devices quite frequently cut through the insulation and into the wire strands, thereby nicking the wire strands and impairing the conductivity characteristics thereof. In most of these prior known stripping devices, the depth of cut of the cutting elements was not precisely controlled; and, as a result, the user of the device had to gauge how deeply to cut into the insulation. Approximating the depth of cut of the cutting elements was not always accurate, and in the use of certain of the prior known devices nicking or cutting of the wire strands oftentimes resulted.
In U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,827,317 and 4,108,028, wire strippers are disclosed that represent improvements over the conventional wire stripping devices; and in U.S. Pat. No. 4,108,028, a specific form of blade member is disclosed that cooperates with the grip members of the wire stripping device for precisely controlling the depth of cut in the insulation of the wire being stripped, wherein nicking and/or cutting of the wire strands is prevented during the wire stripping operation. Although the wire stripping devices illustrated and disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,827,317 and 4,108,028 perform a wire stripping operation in a satisfactory manner for the purpose disclosed and described therein, the present invention represents an improvement thereover, as will be described hereinafter.